What did 14 March 2020 look like from Kyiv's borderland?
A look back at two reports from the days before 14 March 2020, one about culture and one about closing borders.
What did the news look like on 14 March 2020? The two reports available from the preceding days pointed in different directions: one toward public cultural life, the other toward the closing of Europe's borders.
On 13 March 2020, Oksana Zabuzhko and alyona alyona were named laureates of the Women in Arts 2020 award. The recognition went to two women working in different fields of Ukrainian cultural life.
A day earlier, on 12 March 2020, Slovakia ordered the closure of all its borders to non-residents. It also closed all international airports and schools, in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Slovakia was among the European countries responding to the pandemic in this way.
Taken together, the two items show a moment in which public life was still marked by cultural honours, while neighbouring governments were already restricting movement and closing schools. The reports say nothing further about how either story would develop.
